The last couple of weeks has seen us putting the finishing touches to 3 case studies from major projects carried out earlier this year - and you can now view these, and all our other case studies, on our useful Case Studies Map.
River Trent Flood Defences
ABI Equipment Ltd supplied an ABI Mobilram TM 16/20 B telescopic leader rig and MRZV 28VV Vibro, with MZK 1200 Combi Clamp, to VolkerGround Engineering (VGE) for a major ground improvement project. This was for the installation of steel sheet piles as part of flood defence works in North Lincolnshire.
The work took place along the banks of the River Trent close to the town of Scunthorpe, where low lying ground either side of the tidal river is prone to flooding during peak high tide events as well as periods of prolonged rainfall. The sheet piling took place along the east bank of the River Trent, from the Keadby Bridge at Gunness in the north, to the M180 bridge in the south. The ground conditions in this area are alluvial clay and silt soils overlying sedimentary rock, and it as important for VGE to use a low-vibration method of installation so that there was minimal ground disruption to these soft friable soils.
DART Project at Luton Airport
ABI Equipment Ltd were asked to supply VolkerGround Engineering Ltd (VGE) with a Mobilram TM22 piling rig with MRZV 36VV vibrator, an MZK 1200 Combi Clamp, and an MDBA 7000 auger drive, plus tooling. The equipment was required to carry out sheet piling works for the construction of the Luton DART. This is part of a vast schedule of improvements and expansion taking place in and around London Luton Airport.
The Luton DART (Direct Air Rail Transport) will be a fully automated people mover. It will be a light rail double shuttle that transports passengers smoothly and efficiently between Luton Airport Parkway railway station and London Luton Airport, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Given the fact that this work is taking place at a very busy airport, and therefore a highly sensitive environment, VGE needed to select specialist equipment that would minimise both noise and vibration on site, and produce as little disruption as possible for travellers, instruments and surface traffic. Selecting the MRZV 36VV model vibrator with ABI’s patented variable static moment / variable frequency capability meant that the vibration frequency could be adjusted, and therefore what could have been potentially harmful resonance would be minimised.
River Medway Flood Defences
ABI Equipment Ltd were asked to supply their TM 14/17 Mobilram VSL rig with MRZV 20VV vibrator, for work being carried out by VolkerGround Engineering Ltd (VGE) in Strood, Kent.
The low-lying land around the estuary is permanently at high risk of tidal river and surface water flooding; a situation that clearly has to be remedied before any investment in the redevelopment can take place. Steel sheet piling has been installed in various locations to form a new flood barrier, behind which the ‘dry’ side will be back-filled with thousands of tonnes of soil and material, raising the ground level above the most frequently affected flood levels. Once completed the overall ground level will have been raised to 6.1m – providing sufficient protection for up to 1-in-200 year events.
